Hyundai Kona Electric

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4 жыл бұрын

Whilst looking for my new Green car, I got to test drive a Hyundai Kona Electric. This is the Caveman review.
cavemanreviews.co.uk/hyundai-...

Пікірлер: 8

@wombatdk 3 жыл бұрын

The low speed sound you hear is likely the "VESS", Hyundai's artificial engine sound - not sure about the UK, but EVs by law must make noise when they go slow, to warn people with visual impairments. In the case of the Kona the sound tapers off at ~15mph. It does indeed sound like a spaceship taking off. Here's a good recording of it: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qpp7nsuey9mrfps.html Beyond that, yes, you can hear the electric motor spin up especially if you floor it. As for the back seat room - no, there really isn't much. The battery pack sits under the foot well on both driver and passenger side, and a transverse pack is under the back seat. The high voltage shut-off is actually under the middle of the back seat. If you have a look at the regular non-EV Kona, you'll notice that it has much more room inside. If you do look for a family vehicle, the Kona EV isn't for you. It has very little back seat room, negligible trunk/boot space, for some strange reason _no_ "Frunk" (the "engine compartment" is pretty much empty, but the empty space isn't used). The Kona's range is pretty accurate. I get actually far more range, but I drive like my own granny. Using air conditioning will drop the range by ~10%, heating likewise will drop it. Towing anything will utterly destroy the range, same with any roof rack. The Kona EV does actually not have much of a towing capacity anyway, and the manual states "Towing not recommended". Furthermore, any full-electric vehicle means you better have charging ability at home, and any long-distance drive becomes an aggravating game of "drive 200 miles, charge 30-40 minutes, drive 200 miles, charge 30-40 minutes..." As long as you're cool with that, you're good to go. If that's an issue, either buy a Tesla (which charges a bit faster, reducing but not eliminating the issue) or buy a traditional ICE car.

@CavemanReviewsUK 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks - all very interesting and informative. The slow speed sound is required in UK law as well and sounds funny (hence the comment.. :) ) (hopefully) being that I would not be doing over 200 miles (and be able to recharge when I get somewhere..) it should not be a huge problem for me, but my question is am I ready for it??

@wombatdk 3 жыл бұрын

@@CavemanReviewsUK The main concern is really whether you can charge conveniently and regularly without having to frequent public chargers. Most cars sit overnight at home, and you can charge easily 25% on simple household current. If you can charge at work, that'd likely be a L2 charger and you'd be good too. If you have to use public chargers, the cost might be an issue. Here's an example from me: I can't charge "at home" because I live in an apartment complex. I can't charge at work because there's no charger nearby. Both places are not EV friendly and already declared that they'll never install chargers. Therefore, I use public chargers. There are two free chargers: One on the way to/from work and one on the way to go shop. Both are not exactly fast: 50kWh and 25kWh. But they're free. Because my commute is quite long, I charge every day for ~20-30 minutes. Compare that to an ICE car, 5mins to fuel once a week. The other option is a high speed charger near a supermarket. It's not free, but it can get me from 20% to 80% in about 30 minutes. At a rate of $0.35 per minute, meaning ~$10 per charge. I'd have to use that one three times a week if I wanted to keep the charge between 20% and 80%. I'll let you do the math, but if I only used that charger, I'd spend more on electricity than I ever spent on petrol. That's why it's super important to have a charge plan beforehand.

@ek9772 3 жыл бұрын

At around the same level specs of range, fast charging, energy efficiency, battery size, and relative price you have the Kona, the Tesla Model 3, the Ampera -e, and the the VW ID 3. However, for the similar specs and price you get different designs: sedan, SUV, and hatchback and different cargo sizes.

@CavemanReviewsUK 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the info. For the UK, the Tesla is a lot more than the 30k price tag of the Hyundai. As is the VW which is a lot smaller.. I still have a few more cars to test before I make my mind up.

@ek9772 3 жыл бұрын

Caveman Reviews sure. All four models have active liquid cooling and no spare tire, but there are some creative work around solutions to this. In the UK, you have myenergi.com; they have two of the best residential EV chargers with one for single phase homes up to 7-kWh and one of 22-kWh for 3-phase homes. It is a better solution than those from car manufacturers or solar inverter companies, and one of the lower cost to install since it does not require a copper ground rod, and they have a variable trickle charge to avoid overwhelming your current residential electrical installation or the car’s battery. In the US you can order the M3 standard for $35K. It is not available online. The procedure in rough terms used to be as follows: You order online the lowest available price option. You pay your $100 deposit, and when they call to confirm, you request the lower priced option. I have no idea if this is available in the UK. Here is a video detailing the steps: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rcVdktdjnsjHmas.html

@danielroden9424 2 жыл бұрын

yeah the back is small. but its a sub compact suv / hatch back. that is by design. also you are tall. im 5'10 and its fine. why would you be in the back? that's where the kids go.

@CavemanReviewsUK 2 жыл бұрын

Daniel for those that have grown up children and would use the car to carry adult friends around, the back is a little cramped. It is a nice vehicle, I only pointed this out to those that would use it the same as me.